FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
September 2, 2022
Contact: press@agendapac.org
WHAT THEY’RE SAYING: Agenda PAC Launches to Strong Reception
New, national PAC will take the fight for LGBTQ+ rights and reproductive freedoms to the doorstep of anti-LGBTQ+ politicians nationwide
(PHILADELPHIA, PA) — Yesterday, LGBTQ+ grassroots activists, campaign professionals, allies, and elected officials announced the launch of Agenda PAC, a new, national political action committee that aims to directly take on anti-LGBTQ+ politicians and incumbents. Agenda PAC will create and execute aggressive paid communications plans that hold anti-LGBTQ+ politicians and elected officials accountable, as well as defend vulnerable elected officials who are advocates for LGBTQ+ rights.
Politico: New PAC forms to target anti-LGBTQ candidates
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Jaime Harrison, Chair of the DNC
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NBC News: New political group forms to campaign against anti-LGBTQ candidates
“When Clarence Thomas wrote his concurrence, he welded together the freedoms to love and to choose,” Kenyatta, who earlier this year lost to John Fetterman in Pennsylvania’s Democratic U.S. Senate primary, said in an interview. “Both of those are at great risk.”
Unlike groups such as Victory Fund, which are mainly focused on electing LGBTQ candidates, Agenda PAC plans to aggressively advertise against politicians they see as hostile to LGBTQ rights. The first target: Doug Mastriano, Pennsylvania’s Republican nominee for governor.
“We are going after the beatable bigots,” Kenyatta said. “Sometimes those beatable bigots are running against incredible LGBTQ candidates. And sometimes they’re running against folks who are allies to our community.”
The Advocate: Democratic Lawmakers & Allies Launch New Pro-LGBTQ+ Agenda PAC
Joining Kenyatta on the founding team are political strategist Joe Trippi and pollster Celinda Lake. Also joining are Florida state Sen. Shevrin Jones, Nebraska state Sen. Megan Hunt, and North Dakota state Rep. Joshua Boschee. In addition, Ted Bordelon, who led the organizing of the PAC, will serve as executive director.
“Key demographics for Democrats – especially women – are being moved by the increased threats to freedoms we’ve seen ramp up after Roe and crystallized by Justice Clarence Thomas’ concurrence, and Democrats need more players like Agenda PAC to reach these voters,” Lake said in a statement.
Forbes: New Political PAC Launches To Take Down Anti-LGBTQ Candidates
In a video Wednesday, Agenda PAC said it planned to “fight back and stop” those attempting to take away “our basic freedoms to love and choose” and would aim to “make the difference” in tough upcoming races.
THEM: A Brand New PAC Wants to Get Anti-LGBTQ+ Candidates Out of Office
The group will utilize “a variety of paid communications tactics to contact voters, including direct mail, TV and digital advertising,” with a long term goal of acting as a deterrent for anti-LGBTQ+ candidates.
With anti-LGBTQ+ rhetoric amping up in advance of the midterms, the tactics that Agenda is planning to use will hopefully even the playing field.
Metro Weekly: “Agenda PAC” Launches to Defeat Anti-LGBTQ Candidates
Labeled “Agenda PAC,” the committee’s leaders, who include several LGBTQ officeholders and veteran Democratic political operatives, say the purpose of the super PAC is to defeat candidates who are hostile to the LGBTQ community.
Unlike LGBTQ Victory Fund, which advocates for greater LGBTQ representation in the political sphere — based on the underlying premise that having more out LGBTQ elected leaders who can serve as a “face” of the community makes it more difficult to push through anti-LGBTQ legislation — Agenda PAC is designed to take the fight directly to those politicians pushing hostile bills or initiatives that would harm the LGBTQ community.
PennLive: New super PAC targeting anti-LGBTQ candidates sets sights on Mastriano as first target
“When you look at how outside of the mainstream, how unhinged Doug Mastriano is, we knew that this was going to be a race that we had to start with,” said Kenyatta, the first openly gay Black member of the state Legislature, in an interview with PennLive.
Amanda Litman, Co-Founder: Run for Something
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Agenda PAC is a new political action committee that aims to create and execute aggressive paid communications plans that hold anti-LGBTQ+ politicians and elected officials accountable, as well as defend vulnerable elected officials who are advocates for LGBTQ+ rights. With the repeal of Roe v. Wade and the Thomas concurrence, and a historic number of anti-LGBTQ+ bills being introduced at all levels of government; we exist to take the fight directly to those trying to roll back our basic freedoms.